RV6 N23EJ TRIP LOG

HOUSTON – BRASILIA

This trip starts with a dream that I had many years ago, where I wanted to build my own airplane and fly it from the US to S. America. For a number of reasons I never had all the conditions that were needed to undertake the trip. But I never lost site of my dream.

Also all the years as a glider pilot enhanced my probabilities for success. The understanding of the weather, the long hours in a tight cockpit that comes with cross country soaring and the patience and energy management.

What follows is a short recollection of my experiences during this trip. Being a single pilot kept from taking too many pictures. At times it got busy in the cockpit, and most of those times were either on departure or approach.

The RV6, what can I add that has not been already said. Just one hell of an aircraft.

Day 1 – 8/18/06 Soaring Club of Houston (89TA) – Ft. Pierce, FL (KFPR)

Talked to briefer around 6:30AM. Due to low situated in the western Gulf of Mexico in the New Orleans area, the advise was not to take the direct route over the gulf and take the land route instead and to stay and far inland as I could. This would add some distance to the route but at least I would not run into heavy CB activity.

Departed at 7:20 AM with full fuel of 68 gal. 38 gal in main wing tanks plus two 15 gal auxiliary tanks. Since there are some restricted areas on the way on the coastal route I chose two intermediate way points (Sikes and Tallahassee) in order to navigate around them. Did not choose to file a VFR flight plan since I would not be crossing any ADIZ. Weather in route was good and I could see the overdeveloping CB’s to the south in the Gulf of Mexico. Headwind was about 20 kts and it would get worse over Mississippi before it was to improve once I turned SE after reaching Tallahassee. Before reaching Florida the visibility got reduced due to brush fires in that area. I was trying to pick a flight level that would minimize the headwind but it did not seem to make much difference. I finally settled for FL095.

There was CB activity in south Florida so after clearing the Orlando Class B I headed straight to KFPR dodging CB’s and ended up above 2000’ on final. This leg took longer than planned and it was a sign of things to come, for most of the trip, due to the circulation in the Caribbean at this time of the year.

All this time I had been keeping an eye on the Caribbean and the tropical waves coming from the eastern equatorial Atlantic. Except for a low off the NE coast of Florida and a low cell drifting at about 15 kts westward in the lower windward islands, everything looked good for the 2 day passage until I cleared the Caribbean and went on to French Guiana.

After fueling at the self serve pump (last cheap fuel of the trip), I tied the RV down and went to the hotel.

Leg distance: 877 NM

Time in-route: 6.8 hrs

Fuel used: 57 gal

N23EJ parked at Ft. Pierce

Day 2 – 8/19/06 Ft. Pierce (KFPR) – Providenciales, Turk and Caicos

After filing the flight plan and talking to the briefer I started at 8:40AM since the leg was relatively short but I was still apprehensive since I had never flown over water for so long. Although as an old sailor water sea water is in my veins, the idea of an encounter with it in a ship with wings had me concerned. Wearing a survival life jacket with an EPIRB and a VHF handheld stuffed in the front pockets plus all the other gadgets made it less comfortable than flying over land.

I tried to fly the A555 airway as much as I could. This kept me within reasonable distance from the numerous Bahamas islands on my way to Provo. I monitored 123.45 but there was not much traffic. Weather in route was good specially over the water with some towering CU’s that had to be circumnavigated. I flew most of the time at FL115 and upon contacting Provo approach I was directed to the north side of the airport to hold. This place has turned out to be a very popular tourist site so the airport with it’s single runway is busy. After holding for about 10 minutes I was told to start my downwind. Had to go through rain showers on base leg and when finally on final I was told to speed up because I had a AA 757 on my tail. When I finally told the controller I was doing 155 kts on final he quieted down.

The ground service from Provo Air was excellent with complimentary transportation to the hotel after going through United Kingdom immigration and the General Declaration form for the aircraft and it’s crew (me). The price for avgas $5.66/gal.

Leg distance:560 NM

Time in-route: 4.5 hrs

Fuel used: 35 gal

Caribbean at either side at FL115

Day 3 – 8/20/06 Providenciales – St. Thomas – Grenada

Since this would be a long day I tried to take off early but in order to clear customs file the flight plan and pay for services I was not able to take off until 8:45AM. I planned to follow A555 airway until the Idaho intersection north of Puerto Rico and then go direct to St. Thomas and after south to intersect the A555 again, which goes to Martinique, but before Martinique once I arrived at the Emola intersection depart the airway and head south direct to Point Salines, Grenada. This added some distance compared to a direct course from St. Thomas but it kept me in an airway and away from some of the US Navy’s weapons ranges in the Caribbean.

The only weather information I could get was from looking at the satellite picture at the Provo Air computer. I did not see anything that would indicate trouble. The low pressure cell off Grenada had drifted westward and the next tropical wave to the east was still a couple of days away.

Once I got close enough to Puerto Rico, the San Juan center kept an eye on me and after handing me over a couple of times I got to St. Thomas which was my go/nogo point of this leg. The flight computer said I had at least 10 extra gallons reserve for the destination, which I knew it would be greater once I turned into a more southerly heading. So I pushed on into the blue open ocean. From now on radio communication took a different turn. All in English but with either French or Caribbean accents. I had to many times make them repeat to understand what their requests were. After a while my ear started to get more accustomed and I could understand better. The weather turned good all the trip and I could see the trouble spots high in the horizon to either side of my course. After 6.8 hours I finally arrived in Grenada and was the only GA in the ramp.

I turned in the Gen Dec and customs forms, fueled the aircraft and went into St. Georges to a B & B.

That night it rained hard for a couple of hours and woke me up about 3AM. I wondered what the weather would be like the next day but fell asleep again.

Leg distance:954 NM

Time in-route: 6.8 hrs

Fuel used: 50 gal

GPS screen after departing Turk & Caicos

North coast of Puerto Rico

US Virgin Islands

South tip of Grenada ahead with Point Salines Airport

North tip of Grenada viewed during let down

Day 4 – 8/21/06 Grenada – French Guiana

The previous night’s rain had dissipated and the morning looked clear.

Did all the departure paperwork and checked with the weather office after filing the flight plan. He gave a thumbs up telling me that the tropical wave would be east of my course.

Departed at 8:20 AM with full fuel. This would be my last ocean leg with about 600 NM over open water. Still with a headwind the weather was clear and after a while I could see the calm ocean below, typical sign of the doldrums, which I had experienced so many times while sailing in the tropics. To my left most of the first half of the trip a solid wall of thunderstorms caused by the tropical wave. To my right more than 100NM away huge buildups by the coastal heating of Trinidad and the Guianas. I went trough Piarco, Georgetown, Paramaribo and finally Cayenne controls. The female controller in Cayenne as I was approaching her area asked me if I had some intersection name in order to avoid the European Space Agency’s prohibited area north of Cayenne. I told her I did not have that information since I really had no charts for the area, except for the GPS display. She then told me to turn 20 deg right. I told her I had weather there since there was a huge CB so she told me to turn 20 deg left, out into the ocean. Then I figured out from the GPS what I had to do. I could see the launch pads for the Arienne rockets on the coastal area. From there on the new controller steered me to the north of the Rochenbeau airport and told me to hold 4 NM for traffic. First there was an Air France 747 landing then some other airline back taxiing for departure after which I was directed to do a left base for landing. The friendly controller then guided me to the parking area, where I was the only aircraft. As I was arranging all my things, here comes this young guy in shorts, and he introduces himself a Robert, the controller, and asks if he can take a look at the RV6. He is a pilot and has never seen an RV6 close by. He said next time I should stay a couple of days and he would show me some really unusual places in the jungle. Since French Guiana is part of France, unlike the other Guianas, the currency is the Euro. Everything very efficient and professional and before I know it I felt like I am back into civilization towards a Best Western hotel.

Leg distance: 706 NM

Time in-route: 5.5 hrs

Fuel used: 43 gal

Left view of the tropical wave CB activity

Approacing the coast of French Guiana

Cayenne ahead

Parked at Rochenbeau airport

Day 5 – 8/22/06 Cayenne – Macapa, Brazil

That night it rained hard again and when I got to the airport I filed direct to Macapa, Brazil and got a good weather briefing. Short 3 hour flight in order to be on the ground before the build ups occur.

Once I left Cayenne control I was assigned the Macapa approach frequency but was warned that for a while I would be out of VHF range. Below there was nothing but rain forest. This was the point where I would have rather been over the ocean. I cruised at FL105 and had a smooth flight all the way. I finally made contact in Portuguese with Macapa approach and was told to report 10 minutes out.

I taxied to the ramp where an INFRAERO official directed me to my parking. Then went to do immigration customs and all the paperwork to obtain my Brazilian overflight permit for 60 days. The diligence and courteousness by Brazilians is well know and it never stops to amaze me how warm these folks are. After a while in the office they all came out to see the airplane and shoot pictures. After about one hour I cleared to enter the country. The main hang up was that the numbers in the insurance policy were not totally readable. One call to Brasilia solved the problem.

Leg distance:295 NM

Time in-route: 2.2 hrs

Fuel used: 25 gal

Macapa airport with Officials

With Federal Police Immigration officer. What a friendly bunch

Day 6 – 8/23/06 Macapa – Brasilia

This was the last leg of the trip from Macapa on the Amazon to Brasilia.

After takeoff I headed on course and after crossing the main branch of the Amazon climbed to 8500 feet and it took at least 45 minutes to finally be out of the delta and over true rain forest. The only thing to be seen were tree tops and eventually some rivers.
I flew 1003 NM in 7 hours using 50 galons of fuel. For the first time in the whole trip I did not have headwinds. I cruised at 145 - 155 kts and the trip was smooth until I reached about the half way point, in the State of Tocantins, where the atmosphere was very unstable, and the tops where way above any altitude I could fly, so once I determined I could not go any higher I requested clearance to go under.
I had to fly through heavy rain on and off for about 100 nm deviating to catch the lightest of the areas. This was about the 4000 to 5000´level. In that region the maximum terrain elevation was 2700 feet.
After that things got better and I climbed back up to FL105 and as I landed in the club in Brasilia there was a massive CB close to the airfield. I was able to land before it got there and a friend made room in his hangar for the RV6 just before hail hit the ground. I did not have the keys for my hangar with me.
I guess as the saying goes "the best for the last".

Leg distance: 1003 NM

Time in-route: 7.0 hrs

Fuel used: 50 gal

On the north shore of the Amazon River

Final statistics

Fuel used: 272Gal

Distance flown: 4395 NM

Time in route: 32.8 Hr

Hector Eduardo Iglesias